Movie Reveiw: Saving Private Perez
Before I get into this weekend’s movie releases, let me just say I will not be doing a review for Shark Night 3D. Sharks freak me the hell out (almost as bad as mimes) and I can’t imagine a more horrible death (unless it’s being trapped inside an invisible box by a bunch of mimes and asphyxiating. Jaws image courtesy of the movie t-shirt category). Seriously I would rather go feet first into a tree shredder. Actually, that would be kind of cool, if only because at my funeral people would be like “How did Dave die?” and my friends would have to try to maintain a straight face while saying “He fell into a tree shredder.” The point is I don’t want to end up food for something bigger than a worm.
Actually, I have always been a big fan of spontaneous human combustion.
So the first movie I saw this weekend was Saving Private Perez. I was kind of excited when I saw the trailers. It looked like my kind of movie, and for the most part it was. What I didn’t like was the fact that the nearest place it played was 17 miles away. How are independent or foreign films supposed to get a fair test if they only show up in a few theaters? Lord knows we need as much screen space possible for the latest Spy Kids movie.
Anyway, this movie was pretty much what I hoped it would be: Black Hawk Down meets Machete and El Mariachi. Definitely grindhouse in flavor, with a little bit of Cheech and Chong thrown in. Miguel Rodarte plays Julian Perez, Mexican crime lord. He gets guilted by his dying mother to find his brother, Juan, who has been captured by Iraqis during Desert Storm II. He assembles a team of crack Mexican mercenaries who waver back and forth from being stone cold gunmen and comic relief clowns. Even the reported psychopath Pumita (Rodrigo Oviedo), the most competent of the gunmen, seems to have a lot of humor written into the role. I’m not sure if I liked that part or not. Through a series of dumb luck and money expenditures they all end up in Iraq and are following any lead they can find. The run into the US Army a few times, who are portrayed as both bloodthirsty and kind of incompetent. Not the fairest assessment of our boys in my opinion, but I tried to remember that most of the rest of the world might not see them in the same light we do. They kind of bumble around for a while. Stuff blows up. A tank shows up.
The stars. Generally fun and interesting. One star. Kind of a cool message running through the movie about the importance of family that I appreciated. One star. Grindhouse-ie. One star. I reasonably clear and concise story. One star. Good dialog, and they didn’t rob the dialog of it’s emotional impact by dubbing it into English. One star. The characters were each distinct and separate, and were even each given a minor back story. One star. As far as I could tell from only speaking English, the acting was good. One star. Good camera work and editing for a independent film. One star. Overall a good movie experience. One star. Total: ten stars.
The black holes. The whole comedy thing while people are shooting at you. One black hole. Somehow the team managed to kick the crap out of Iraq without killing a bunch of people. One black hole. The action got kind of dopey at some points, especially towards the end. One black hole. The inaccurate portrayal of the US servicemen as kind of incompetent, not to mention trigger happy. Sorry, but I know how well trained those guys are, and if you have an entire squad and a .50 cal shooting at you from 30 yards away, you’re dead. You aren’t going to get away without a scratch. One black hole. As much as I appreciate the dialog being in Spanish the whole time to maintain the emotional integrity of the film, subtitles in fast moving action films makes my eyes really jumpy. One black hole. Total: five black holes.
So a total of five stars. Not bad at all, and if you like foreign, independent, or just fun films worth seeing. The action is pretty good, and I can’t help but feel if you were trying to watch that and read the subtitles on a small TV you might miss some cool stuff, so try to see it in a theater.
Next up I think will be the Debt, Warrior, and maybe Apollo 18, although I suspect I have seen something like it before, perhaps called Apollo 13. This looks like more of a conspiracy nut film and might possibly involve aliens, so maybe I will like it. Follow me on Twiiter @Nerdkungfu. Big Warhammer weekend (two different tournaments; I am in hog heaven) plus a BBQ on Monday, so I don’t know if I will get everything caught up right away. Cya l8r.
